Colorado Direct Primary Care Bill: A Better Way To Pay For Healthcare?

Colorado Direct Primary Care Bill: A Better Way To Pay For Healthcare?

By Kelsey Ray, Colorado Independenton April 10, 2017

Coloradans frustrated with the high costs of primary healthcare, take heed: A bill to protect a lower-cost model heads today to the state House floor after passing committee in both chambers.

Fed up with the administrative burdens of “fee-for-service” insurance billing, family doctors across the country increasingly are turning to a payment model called direct primary care, in which patients and their primary care physicians enter into payment agreements that eliminate the middleman of traditional insurance.

Much like gym memberships, direct primary care patients pay a monthly fee —it’s usually between $25 and $80, depending on factors like the patient’s age — in exchange for access to primary care services like consultations, lab work and clinical visits without insurance copays or deductibles. Proponents say the model reduces administrative hours and leads to lower costs.

Same day/next day appointments with no wait time, plus 24/7 access to doctors via text, phone, and our mobile app can result in avoidance of many ER visits and virtually all urgent care visits (and costs!).